It was such an ordinary situation in an ordinary location and it was at such odds with what was really happening. My head swam with the incongruity of it all as I led him back to our table.
"I see we missed lunch," he said.
The plates hadn't yet been cleared and André eyed the half-eaten platter of nachos, placing himself on the chair between me and MacAsgaill. I pushed the platter toward him and he looked to MacAsgaill who nodded his permission.
"Anything to drink?" Our waiter had followed us over to the table.
"Water," the small woman replied.
"Your best Scotch and a tall draft for my large friend, Mr. Roussi," MacAsgaill said.
"All set over here?" the waiter asked looking to Tabby and me. I nodded affirmatively and he efficiently moved on.
"It's a shame Tullas didn't finish her job. It sure makes things messier," MacAsgaill said.
"You mean murdering my crew and that of Cape?" I asked.
"LeGrande and every other officer of Belirand knew that to fall out of fold-space was a death sentence. She accepted that when she took the job."
"But you could fix that," I said.
"Beside the point," MacAsgaill said. "I'd love to argue the morality of sacrificing forty-five crew to save the entirety of humanity, but you don't seem like you're big on listening. Let's get straight to brass tacks. You and your entire crew will turn yourselves over to me. We'll escort you to a place where you can live out your lives and we won't kill your families."
"Tullas said if we didn't tell anyone, you'd leave our families out of it," I said.
"That was Tullas, I'm changing the deal," he said and slid a reading pad across the table to me.
I was about to tell him to hold on to it until Nick arrived, but the screen showed a vid of my family's Co-Op station in the Descartes asteroid belt.
"What's this?" I asked.
"Just watch," he said.
The video was shot from the perspective of a cruiser and it had just crossed over the defensive perimeter and was approaching the Co-Op. It was a very recent video, as I hadn't yet seen the improvements the video was showing.
"Will you submit?" he asked.
"What are you doing?" I looked to Tabby in a panic, her stricken face told me she was as concerned as I was.
"It's called an object lesson."
André placed a small box on the table in front of MacAsgaill, opened it and turned back to the nachos.
"You know what this is?" he asked. "Of course you do. You've used quantum communication devices quite frequently. This particular crystal is tuned to the beautiful ship – Hammer of Justice and my good friend Captain Ahmed Mussa.
"Captain Mussa, you have a green light," MacAsgaill said.
"Wait. What have you done!? There are people on that station!" I yelled.
I watched missiles stream forward from the large ship. They impacted the co-op and exploded on contact. My mind went blank. I can't exactly explain how it felt, but I'd been in so many life-and-death situations that I'd found a special place where I packed away my feelings in times of great distress and I pushed it all there.
In a single, fluid movement, I swung the reading tablet into the face of MacAsgaill's huge bodyguard. He was expecting the move and blocked it, guffawing at my lame attempt. I knew he would and used my right hand to twist the heavy flechette in its holster and point it at his leg. I fired as many shots as I could manage and was rewarded by a howl of pain.
From the corner of my eye I saw Tabby already on the woman, but couldn't tell how it was going. I jumped across the table at MacAsgaill who was trying to stand and stumbling in his attempt. My fist caught his chin squarely before I felt an arm land heavily on my back. So much for my heavy flechette dropping the giant.
I rolled to the ground and came up on my feet, MacAsgaill standing between me and his bodyguard. He pulled his hands up in a poor boxing stance and I went into automatic mode. I'd been training with Tabby for long enough that I didn't hesitate. I unleashed a front snap kick and followed it with an elbow strike to his nose and he dropped away, unconscious.
I fell on him with the intent of beating him to death, but the problem with putting MacAsgaill on the ground was that I was now accessible to André. I got one more punch in and felt a satisfying crunch before the monster tackled me, pulling me from his boss. It was a horrible position to be in. His weight alone pinned me to the ground and I struggled to fend off his meaty arms as he bludgeoned me. It was impossible to slip the blows lying on my back and I was starting to lose consciousness.
"That's enough," I heard a woman say.
The blows continued and I fought to maintain consciousness and keep my defenses up, but I had nothing left.
I heard the sound of electrical discharge as one last blow rammed into my face and I lost consciousness.
***
"Heya, slugger," Tabby's voice purred in my ear.
I slowly opened my eyes and took in the scene around me. We were in a small room. I tried to get a breath in through my swollen nose while scanning to see where we were. I couldn't identify enough of the room to figure out if we were on a ship or still on Nuage Gros.
"Where are we?" I mumbled through a heavy cloth that lay across my jaw.
"Don't try to talk, Liam. We're in the brig on Gros," she said, stroking my hair, my head in her lap.
"He murdered Mom and Dad," I said.
"I know, Liam."
"Is he in jail?"
"He's claiming self-defense. The waiter is backing his story, too. Worse, they're pressing charges, trying to get attempted murder," she said.
"That's crazy."
"You fired your flechette and broke his jaw," she said.
"Broke his jaw?" I asked.
"Yeah." Tabby hugged me and I cried.
AT THE GATES
Yishuv Settlement, Planet Ophir
Merrie pushed the left stick down and the quad rose quickly.
The unfolding view was that of a mountain plateau. In the foreground sat a village, tall tents arranged in circles around communal fires. In the background, a swarm of Ophie was busy clearing brush and setting stripped tree trunks into the ground.
"What do you mean, we're out of time?" Bedros asked.
"We've long known the number of Ophie in the village to the North and even their reproductive cycle," Gian said. "The tents you see in the permanent village confirm what we've always known. That village looks like it supports a hundred fifty warriors max."
"You're saying all of our problems through history have been caused by a hundred fifty Ophie?" Bedros asked.
"I am. Although as that village shows, it is probably closer to a two hundred twenty-five total population. It makes sense. They're hunter-gatherers and have no concept of domesticating animals or growing crops. Most likely this is one of several villages they frequent. The fact that they disappear for decades at a time also supports the belief that these villages are temporary."
"What are they doing?" Bedros asked pointing at the screen, where the Ophie were working.
"They're preparing for visitors," Gian said. "And, from the looks of it, they're preparing for a lot of them."
"Do you ever tire of being right?" Bedros asked.
"No. I would very much have liked to be wrong about this. Look to the west. You can see new tents with markings similar to the scouts we've recently encountered."
"How many will there be and how much time do we have?"
"The land won't support a large number of them for very long," Gian said. "When they finally gather, we'll have few days before they attack. As for numbers, we'll be able to better estimate once we count the number of campsites. We could be looking at upwards of two thousand."
Bedros' face turned grim with determination. He was finally on board. "Tell me what you need. I'll make it happen."
***
Amon looked up. He and Nurit had been toiling around the clock casting iron collars for the posts that were part of the new Keep next
to the protector's barracks. The council had decided that if the walls of the city were breached, the population would fall back to this fortified position.
"Do you think it will come to this?" Nurit asked. "There is hardly enough room for eight hundred of us in there."
"Eliora does and I believe her," Amon said, believing in his words the more often he said them.
"I wish they'd share what has gotten everyone so worked up. Has she said anything about it?"
"No, but Merrie said there are more Ophie than we've ever seen. She said there's no possibility they won't be coming over the wall."
"At least this is the last of the collars, not to mention the last of the iron," Nurit said.
"You rest. I'll install them," Amon said, hammering the pins from the top of the box that held the cooling iron.
With the hooked end of a bar, he dug in the sand, pulled the new collar from its mold and inspected it. He'd like to grind off the rough edges, but time wouldn't allow for finishing. He tossed the twenty centimeter collar onto the cart behind the smithy's electric vehicle and proceeded to unpin the final mold.
Nurit sat down wearily. "I hope it will be enough."
"It will have to be. And keep your longsword with you, even if you nap," Amon said.
"I will. I'm not sure how much good it will do me, though," she said. "I can barely lift my arms at this point."
"You'll recover and you're stronger than all but a few," Amon said as he hopped in the cart and drove toward the siege fortifications.
On his way toward the new structure, he saw Merrie walking and pulled over.
"Need a ride?"
She smiled as she climbed in. "Last I looked, you were almost done installing the outer fence."
"Yes. This is the last of it. We could use more iron, but that's not possible. We've a few places that could use reinforcement," he said.
"Hopefully, it won't come to that. The turret's already been mounted." Merrie pointed to a heavily fortified position on top of the original barrack's building next to the settlement's exterior wall. "We'll do whatever is necessary to protect that gun so it can be used to peel off any Ophie that try to breach the Keep."
"Sounds more like a stalemate than a way to win," Amon said.
"You're right. If we get pushed back here, we'll be under siege," Merrie said.
"When did you get so smart about war?"
Merrie laughed. "Hard not to when you spend every waking moment around Eliora and Captain Gian."
"Where will you be if they attack?" Amon asked.
She grew serious and placed her hand on Amon's arm as he pulled to a stop in front of the newly constructed timber fence.
"It is not a question of if, Amon. They are coming, this much is certain. The only real question is when. I'm just glad we've been able to finish work on the Keep," she said.
"You didn't say where you'd be," he said.
"I'll be in the top floor of what used to be the barracks. I've all my electronic equipment set up there. Don't worry about me - the room is very secure. What is your assignment?"
"Mom and I are on the south wall, close to the west gate. We haven't had enough time for training with bows, so our job is to repel Ophie who try to make it over the wall."
At just that moment, a bell pealed out and Merrie leapt from the cart.
"It has started. Be safe, Amon," she said and then ran through the open iron door.
Amon was torn. His assignment was to get to the wall when the bell sounded, but if he didn't install these final collars, the weakness in the fence would be obvious. He made his decision and picked the first, still hot collar from the bed of the trailer and climbed the ladder, slipping the collar over the waiting timber. If they were driven back to the Keep, it would not fall because he'd abandoned his responsibility.
Merrie burst into the room and took a position behind Terevit, looking at the screens that lined the wall.
"What is it? Why the alarm?" she asked, looking from one screen to the next. There were no Ophie to be seen in any of them.
"I saw them just before the quad went blank. They know, Merrie! They know we've been watching them," he said.
"It hardly matters," she said. "We'll launch another. Gian will need better information. Take Quad-12 to the roof."
Terevit ceded the chair to Merrie who sat and typed furiously. He picked a quad from a shelf full of them, powered it up and climbed a ladder to the roof above.
"Ready," he yelled to Merrie.
She gently throttled up and lifted the quad from his hands. The talkie next to her sparked to life.
"Terevit, report." It was Gian's voice.
Terevit pulled the trap door closed and slid iron bars back in place, finally reaching for the talkie demanding his attention.
"Captain Gian. They're coming from the north," Terevit said.
"When. How many?"
"Just a few minutes ago, and I don't know how many. They got the quad," he said.
"Get another one up."
"We've already launched," he said. "I think the Ophie know we're controlling them."
Merrie watched Quad-12 cover familiar territory up the steep mountainside. It would take at least forty minutes to climb to where they'd lost the last quad.
She pulled on the headset she hadn't yet tried. A lever on the floor would allow her to depress the talk button and leave her hands free to navigate the quad.
"Captain, if they're coming straight down, we'll have two and a half hours before they reach the north wall. I should run across their position with the quad in thirty minutes, give or take. I'm staying high, so we don't get dropped again," she said.
"Understood. Let me know when you reach them," he said. "Any other activity?"
Merrie looked to Terevit whose sheepish look told her enough. She'd done the best she could, teaching him the technology, but it had mostly been beyond him.
"I'll let you know."
She hovered the quad in place for a moment and placed the engineering pad on a mount that allowed her to interact without holding it.
Run movement analysis algorithms, she instructed the pad.
The left screen switched to the west wall looking over the mountain's descending slope. The trees had only been cleared back ten meters and the console displayed an outline around a perfectly hidden Ophie, who had settled in next to a tree.
"Captain, there's a patrol, west wall at tree line. They're camouflaged pretty well," she said. "Otherwise, I'm not picking anything else up."
"I see 'em, Captain," Terevit announced. "I'll go over and help point them out."
"I need you to stay off this channel," he said.
"I hate it when he treats me like that," Terevit said.
Merrie ignored him as best she could as she urged the quad onward, up the hill. She was hoping by gaining elevation she might see the approaching horde more quickly.
"I can't believe I'm going to be cooped up in this hole while everyone is out there fighting. I should go over there," Terevit complained.
"Terevit, you can't," she said. "Captain knows about it and will deal with it. If you leave me, I'll be stuck."
"I'll tell your boyfriend to come help you. I think I saw him down there," Terevit said and escaped out the door.
"Terevit!" Merrie yelled. For a moment, she considered calling Gian, but she focused on her immediate tasks: scanning the grounds around the settlement and flying Quad-12 up the mountain in search of whatever Terevit had seen.
Thirty minutes into the flight, she finally saw her first signs. Clouds of dust were rising up above the light canopy of the alpine forest. Carefully, she slowed the quad's progress and reduced her elevation. In the past two tendays, they'd counted over two thousand warriors and it was her job to determine if they were all coming at once or if there would be a split force.
"Merrie?" Amon's voice called from the doorway into the small room.
"Yes, Amon. What are you doing here?"
"A protector, Terevit I th
ink his name was, said I should come up," he said. "Do you need me?"
"I need someone's help. I can't run this post by myself," she said.
"Nurit will wonder where I've gone," he said.
"What is your assignment?"
"They didn't know what to do with us."
"Of course, top of the south wall without bows. That's stupid. Fetch her. I need help and this room has to be guarded," she said.
"But we can't abandon the wall," Amon said.
"I'll inform the right people. Just go get her," she said.
"I will," Amon said and ran out of the room.
Merrie sighed. At least she'd eventually have help.
"Captain, I've eyes on the enemy," she said into her headset.
"How far up are they?"
"Twenty-one kilometers and they're moving fast," Merrie said.
"How big of a force?"
"Wait one," she said, hovering at thirty meters.
Count unique troops.
The idea had just popped into her head, but the engineering console had access to the video feed and it would certainly do a better job of estimating than she would.
As she flew over the advancing enemies, a counter in large numerals displayed on the pad's smaller screen. Incrementing quickly, it jumped from ten to a hundred forty then continued to spin up as she negotiated her way through the trees. Unlike previous groups of Ophie, these paid the quad no attention and she grew bolder, flying only five meters above their heads. When she popped out the other end, the counter showed sixteen hundred.
Estimate size of force.
She had no idea if the engineering pad's computer would be able to deal with the request, but it had already impressed her with the information it had gathered.
"Captain. Best estimate is roughly twenty-three hundred. They're in heavy cover. It looks like they brought the entire plateau," she said.
"I would have," he said. "When will they arrive?"
"Best guess? Two hours," she said.
"Bring the quad back. We've secured the western wall. Are you seeing anything else? And did you send Terevit over here?"
"Not specifically. I did, however, pull the blacksmiths from the south wall to replace him. Can you tell whoever's got that section?"
A Matter of Honor (Privateer Tales Book 9) Page 22